Good golly Miss February! Where did you go?! I’m thrilled to see the vaccine being administered and numbers going down, especially near us. I hope this is the beginning of the end of Covid!
Books I’ve Read
- All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood– This story is about Wavy, a young girl whose mother has severe mental illness and whose father is a drug dealer. She begins an unlikely friendship with one of her father’s associates. I read it for our book club and honestly I know many were shocked at the content, but I thought it was very interesting story. I think it shed a different perspective on children raised in abusive and neglectful families and that maybe we shouldn’t judge so harshly when we don’t truly understand. 4/5
- Open House by Katie Sise– 10 years ago art student Emma McCullough walked into the woods and was never seen again. Finally a piece of evidence emerges, Emma’s bracelet is found at the bottom of a gorge. Haley, Emma’s younger sister begins a quest to determine what happened to her sister that night. This was a free book from amazon first reads and it was average. The friendship Emma had with 2 other characters was strange and the person responsible is fairly obvious early on. 3/5
- Not One of Us by Debbie Herbert– Thirteen years ago, Jori Trahan’s boyfriend vanished without a trace. Now, after moving back home to Alabama to care for her ailing grandmother and autistic brother, she comes face-to-face with the deadly mystery behind his disappearance. I’m surprised so many reviewers rated it so highly. I wasn’t impressed with the narrators and never felt that we got a true sense of their personality. I didn’t find the writing style engaging at all. I think it could have been better. 2/5
- Troubled Blood by Robert Galbraith– In the 5th book in the Cormoran Strike series, Strike tackles a cold case from 40 years ago. Margot Bamborough disappeared while on her way to a pub to meet her friend leaving behind a 1 year old daughter and husband. Her daughter now seeks to find what truly happened. This book did not disappoint! I just love the level of detail and plot in this series. 5/5
- Mission in Paris 1990 by Bill Pearl– It’s 1990 and Vietnam and America have not yet made peace after the Vietnam War. Media tycoon Robert Samberg is chosen by the government to travel to Vietnam to explore reconciliation due to his past with Vietnam and opposition to the war. But he has more past than he realizes including a son he never knew he had with his long-last love My Hanh. I was given this book to review by Red Clover Digital, so thank you to them! I found the main character Robert very unlikeable in all honesty. He’s arrogant and plays the victim throughout the book, but as this is a sequel and I didn’t read the first book, maybe I would have felt differently if I knew more of his backstory. I liked the premise and thought it to be unique and a different historical aspect than I had read before. The book is relatively short at under 150 pages and since it had aspects of romance and suspense, I wish the author had delved more into both parts of the plot. They could have really added to the storyline more to make it more satisfying. The suspense part held my attention and the last half of the book I flew through. I also wish the internal dialogue from Robert would have been written better. I think just writing about his feelings or using different words would have conveyed the message more eloquently instead of all of the exclamations. I really appreciated the powerful My Hanh character and underlying theme of how women don’t always have the same choices as men due to society. A book on her story would be interesting to read! 3/5
Products I’ve Been Using
- Seven Sundays cereal– I’ve been trying the berry flavor from Seven Sundays this week. It’s a family-owned breakfast brand in Minneapolis that makes sustainable, vegan, grain free cereal with no added sugar or oil! It’s a great way to start your day!
- Winc- We just received an amazing box of wine from Winc! So far we have tried Loves Me Not (ironically on Valentine’s Day). It was a delicious, sweet red. Check them out with my referral link and get 40% off your first order and free shipping! That’s 4 bottles for only $39! 😲
Recipes I’ve Made
- Basil Chicken in Coconut Curry Sauce – This was absolutely delicious! It was easy to make and the chicken was super tender.
- Peach Pound Cake – I think this was Matt’s favorite new recipe this month. I made it with frozen peaches and strawberries we had leftover. I made it in 2 cake pans then I used lemon curd as filling and iced it. YUM!
- White Chicken Lasagna Soup– Does it bother anyone else when you make lasagna there are always tons of leftover noodles, but not enough for another lasagna? This soup is really easy and perfect for using those noodles up. I really liked it!
- Waffle Sausage Breakfast Casserole – We had waffles in the freezer that I had made and weren’t getting eaten. This recipe used them all up perfectly. It was a cheesy, savory dish with a hint of sweetness. We tried it with different toppings like salsa, ketchup, and syrup. Very filling!
- No Bake Funfetti Cheesecake – I just made this yesterday. I don’t like cheesecake typically, but I could eat this anytime! It’s really easy and so delicious!
- Pesto Chicken Noodle Soup– Another super easy recipe. I made it in the crockpot and really enjoyed the pesto flavor.
Currently
- Choosing- I’ve been wanting our entryway and bedroom painted for a while. I’m happy with all the other paint colors in our home except from these two areas. I’ve also wanted wainscoting put in and some decorative pieces on the archways in our home. It all happened when we got a quote and then he had a week open up for install. Their painter was able to do all of the wainscot and also the rest of the entryway and our bedroom. It was nerve wracking choosing paint colors, but I’m so happy with it all!
- Imagining- If you give a mouse a cookie…If you let me start a home improvement project it’s bound to snowball and I will start making lists of all things I want done in the house! I love adding character and improving our home. So now I’m imagining what faux beams would look like in the sunroom and new flooring for the kitchen. Hopefully next year we can save up for that.
- Making- I’m trying to make changes in my snacking habits. Some afternoons I just get into a slump and reach for a sugary snack, but that really needs to stop. So I’m trying to plan my snacks instead and have a mint tea with a little sugar free chocolate flavoring (it’s amazingly good) instead of mindlessly eating.
- Recommending- I recently joined a Buy Nothing Project group on facebook in my area. If you aren’t familiar with it, people post things they no longer want or need and you can pick them up. It’s all very easy and you just set things out on your porch when the person will come by. It’s really nice to see people giving away books, unused toys, and household items. We’ve been able to clear out a few cabinets with things we didn’t even realize we had! I recommend looking into it and joining one if your area has it!
- Wearing- Honestly I feel as if I’ve only been wearing snow boots lately! We easily had over 2 feet of snow on the ground making it difficult to do any sort of playing. Aveline would frequently attempt to make snow angels and then need help up because she would get herself stuck! Haha!
- Family Update
- Claire- That girl worked her little butt off selling Girl Scout cookies! She has been top seller the last 2 months in her troop. Now we are working on getting the last few orders delivered. And it seems like she will be going back to school 4 mornings a week in early March. Fingers crossed it all works out!
Making indoor s’mores
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- Aveline- Avie has become very interested in letters recently. She loves pointing out letters and who they ‘belong’ to (i.e. C for Claire) so we are working on her being able to recognize them all. So far she can do just over 10 I think.
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- Matt- He was able to get his first dose of vaccine. Hurray! His second one is scheduled in 3 weeks. I will feel so much better about his traveling once he has both shots.
- Me- I’ve been busy with the painting and wainscoting projects in the house and trying to keep Aveline away. She wants to make friends with everyone! I’ve been working on my SIL upcoming baby shower, too!
FEBRUARY GOALS
- Donate things to Goodwill- Done!
- Go through stuffed animals- Done! Big bag donated!
- Organize baby shower- Almost there. I’ve got the invites sent, games planned, cake ordered, cookies ordered, and the gift ordered. Now I just need to send out little packages to attendees once I pick up the cookies.
- Go on a longer run- Unfortunately weather did NOT permit this. Between snow and a cold front, it hasn’t quite worked out. Not to mention my time to run is fairly limited with needing to be home for virtual school. I’m hoping I can go this weekend.
March Goals
- Organize junk drawers- We have 3 junk drawers or ‘catch-all’ drawers in our kitchen and laundry room. I cleared out one already and it looks so much better! 2 more to go!
- Organize freezer- I would love to get some storage solutions/bins for our drawer freezer below the fridge. We normally end up just tossing things in there, but I saw on Frugal Fit Mom how she had hers all organized and I want that!
- Refinish or paint plant stand- I’ve had a plant stand for years that was my great aunt’s. It needs some work and I just haven’t had a chance to get around to it. I’d love to clean it up and paint it or stain it.
- Get Aveline registered for preK next year- It’s been a long year without my kids in school! I want to get Aveline in next year 4-5 mornings a week. Girl needs socialization!
- Longer runs- I was signed up for a half marathon in April 2020 that was cancelled and so was automatically signed up for this year. I need to get training!
LINKING UP WITH ANNE & GRETCHEN + KRISTEN, WHAT’S UP WEDNESDAY
